greetings earthlings and welcome back to podcastage what you're listening to and
what I'm reviewing today is the brand new tube microphone from lewit the pure tube if you are
interested in this mic it runs between 1 000 and 1300 depending on the accessory kit that
you get like always links in the description also full disclosure this microphone is on loan
from lewit so that I'm able to make this review all the recording settings will be listed in the
doobly-doo as well as the description down below and now let's talk about what comes in the Box
for the Thirteen hundred dollar SKU you get this fantastic hard shell storage box you'll of course
get the microphone you get a great shock mount with a 5 8 to 3 8 inch adapter you get a magnetic
pop filter which Clips right onto the shock mount you get a 16 foot 7 pin to seven pin XLR cable
you get the power supply and the power cable to that power supply you get a mic storage bag some
documentation and a couple of stickers then as far as the build quality the microphone feels great it
has an all metal body as well as a metal Grille with very minimal give to it on the front you
have the see-through glass panel so you can see the glowing tube as we move around the microphone
there are no buttons or switches on the bottom you have the seven pin XLR Port the power supply
is all metal and feels great a nice clicky switch and no excessive wobble on any of the ports and
if it matters to you this mic and accessories are assembled in China all of the specs are listed in
the description and I will have the graphs up on screen in case you want to pause and take a
closer look the biggest spec here is for a tube microphone it has a self noise of only 7 DBA now
I am spinning around the pure tube to 90 degrees to show you the off axis rejection and coloration
continuing around to 180 degrees this is the rear of the mic continuing around to 180 degrees here
we go at the second 90 degree angle and then rotating and ending at the front of the mic now
I want to see how effective the microphone and the provided pop filter are rejecting plosives please
bring Pizza Pronto please bring Pizza Pronto please bring Pizza Pronto please bring Pizza
Pronto now I am right on top of the microphone to exaggerate the proximity effect and here is how
the microphone sounds now I'm about six inches off with the mic pointed at the corner of my mouth and
here's how it's sounding now I'm about one foot away from the Lewis Pier tube now I'm about two
feet away from the microphone and now I'm about four feet away from the Lewis pure tube now I am
typing on a keyboard with gatorron Blue switches to see how much of my voice versus how much of the
keyboard it picks up and for the gaming folk I am now typing on the sad W and spacebar keys now here
is how the microphone sounds about six inches away from my mouth in a fairly well treated room and
here is how the microphone sounds about six inches away from my mouth in a completely untreated room
now I want to see how effective the provided shock mount is a rejecting shocks so I'll start
by tapping on my desk to see if it can reject that noise and then I will tap on the boom arm
next because I'm incredibly annoying and I want to be thorough I am going
to tap on the body of the microphone to see if there are any kind of resonant frequencies
now I'm running the microphone through two outboard preamps so you can hear how it sounds
running through some higher end gear the first one is the warm audio wa73 gain set at 35 DB no EQ
engaged running into the uax8 24 bit 48 kilohertz the second one being the universal audio la-610
the compressor section is bypassed level set at plus 10 so we get as much tube coloration as
possible and the level set at 2.5 and I will have been switching back and forth so you can hear how
both preamp sound now like I always do I'm going to do a quick spoken word comparison between the
microphone that we're reviewing and a handful of other microphones that are available so we can
hear how it Stacks up against the competition and hear the microphone outside of a vacuum
starting on the lure to Pure tube I am six inches away connected to the UA X8 gain set at 32 DB 24b
bit 48 kilohertz let's go to the first mic first up we have the Audio Technica at2020 a 100 solid
state condenser microphone I am six inches off gained set at 32 DB check the lower third let's
do a whole bunch more of these back again on the Lewis pure tube for a palette cleanser here is
how it sounds so let's do some more next I am on the Lewis LCT 240 this is a 120 dollar solid
state condenser microphone six inches off gain still set at 32 DB that's how it sounds let's
go back to the pure tube here is another palette cleanser to clear out your ear holes this is the
lewd pure tube let's go to another microphone now I am on the Lewis LCT 440 this goes for
290 dollars it is another solid-state condenser microphone I am six inches off my gain is still
set at 32 DB and that's how it sounds compared to a microphone that is about a thousand dollars more
expensive let's do more we are back on the Lewis pure tube again so you can hear how this sounds
in between each comparison that's enough let's go to another mic next I am on the Neumann hello
Neumann tlm-103 this is a twelve hundred dollar solid state condenser microphone still six inches
off gain still set at 32 DB are you surprised let's go back to the pure tube and do a bunch
more comparisons back on the Lewis pure tube this is your ear cleaning Canal thing let's do more of
these now I am on the Lua to LCT 840 which is a twelve hundred dollar tube condenser microphone
six inches off gain still set at 32 DB cardioid polar pattern notepad and no filter check the
lower third and let's go back to the pure tube and do some more comparisons this is almost the
halfway point I think this is the pure tube clean out your auditory canals let's compare Paramore
now I am on the Austrian audio OC 818 this goes for one thousand two hundred and fifty dollars
it is another solid-state condenser microphone cardioid mode no pad no filters six inches off I
increased my gain to 40 DB and here's how this Compares let's do some more now we are at the
midpoint of the comparison section get a good feel for it how does the Lewis pure tube sound let's do
the next one now I am on the soyuz su-023 bomblet which is another solid-state condenser microphone
this costs around fourteen hundred dollars six inches off gain at 32 DB let's do more does it
feel good to be halfway done with this because it certainly does for me this is the pure tube
here's how it sounds check the lower third let's go to the next one now I am on the Sony
c100 this also goes for fourteen hundred dollars it is another solid-state condenser microphone
cardioid polar pattern notepad no filters my gain is set at 34 DB and here's how this Compares let's
do some more hey we're back on the Lewis pure tube again I don't know why I mumbled that but here's
how it sounds let's do some more of these we're not done yet now I am on the Lewis LCT 940 which
is an eighteen hundred dollar tube condenser microphone six inches off gain set at 32 DB
cardioid polar pattern notepad no filters and here's how this compares to its little brother
the pure tube let's go back and do some more we are still not done so here is another palette
cleanser still six inches off gains still set at 32 DB let's go to the next one now I am on
the Telefunken tf51 which is a 1900 dollar tube condenser microphone six inches off gain set
at 32 DB cardioid polar pattern and here is how this compares to a microphone that is about 600
dollars less expensive let's go back and do some more comparisons I don't know why that
was so weird but I am back on the Lewis peer tube again here's how it sounds get a feel for it and
do more now I am on the LCT 1040 which is a 3 500 tube condenser microphone six inches off gain set
at 36 DB 100 tube on the warm setting notepad no filters cardioid polar pattern I think I set
everything and there you go that's how it Compares I have no idea how many of these I have done but
in case I need some more this is the pure tube yep that's how it sounds are you surprised for good
measure I am still on the 1040 still on cardioid notepad no filters 100 tube but I switched from
the warm setting to the clear setting so you can hear the brighter tone of the 1040 just so you can
hear the comparison that's it for the 1040. this is going to be the penultimate palette cleanser
so here you go Louis pure tube six inches off gain it 32 DB let's go to the second to last microphone
now I am on the Neumann hello Neumann u87ai this goes for 3 700 it is another solid-state condenser
microphone cardioid polar pattern notepad no filters again set at 32 DB check the lower
third let's go to the final microphone because this wasn't it that microphone was the u87 what
could the final microphone be you know what it's going to be but here is your lewit pur2 palette
cleanser let's go to the last mic and to close out the comparison section I am on the Neumann
hello Neumann u67 reissue this is a 7 500 tube condenser microphone six inches off gain at 32
DB cardioid polar pattern no pads no filters does this sound 60 two hundred dollars better than the
pure tube you tell me do I love this microphone yes yes I love it is it worth it probably not
that's it for the comparisons let's go to the music test [Music] [Applause]
of course
are you worried about Captain Planet cause I promise that he is doing fine
dang it I did it again I did the rundown and I made a promise that I can't keep I
don't know Captain Planet I would love to how was he doing do you remember him
so stupid let's go to the conclusion all right at the risk of sounding like a full-on marketing
rep I think that the pure tube is a really nice addition to Louis existing lineup of microphones
and first up as far as Pros has to be the 7dba self noise for a standard solid-state microphone
that is great but for a tube microphone that is absolutely Bonkers secondly the shock mount
is probably the best that I have ever used in terms of effectiveness of rejecting shocks and
the ease of use with the ability to just loosen it and then reposition the microphone however you
wanted it is a fantastic shock mount my third Pro is something most people won't care about
but because I have my tube power supplies on my desk I love that it is so small here is a side by
side comparison of the 1040 controller I know it's not a fair comparison because the pure tube has no
polar patterns other than cardioid no filters no pads but it takes up so little of my desk
real estate I love it also the build quality of the microphone feels absolutely fantastic and
the accessories that come with the microphone are great then as far as cons I have a couple
of Wishes the first one being that they included a firm microphone clip with the Thirteen hundred
dollar kit I could not use this shock mount in my isolation cab so I had to yoink the adapter
or the amount off of my LCT 240. for thirteen hundred dollars I wish they would have included
that secondly I just wish they included a dust cover for the microphone because this sat on
my stand for weeks and I had to borrow one from the 1040 to keep dust from getting on the capsule
again for that price that would just be a nice to have I also noticed that the microphone isn't the
best at rejecting the room so if you record with minimal treatment or around a lot of reflective
surfaces that may become an issue and I need to be fair the grill of this microphone does have
a bit of resonance to it if you tap on the stand or tap on the shock mount or the body of the mic
it doesn't start ringing but I need to point that out and this final con is more of an FYI and it's
something that I pointed out in my LCT 1040 review as well if you have the microphone on
the stand and you move around it a lot expect to bump the pop filter and have it fall on the floor
so just be aware of that and make sure you have a flashlight so you can find it when it falls under
your desk and now what are my overall thoughts and opinions of the lewit pure tube as far as the
overall sound I hear it as being a bit of a Tamer version of their solid-state microphones you have
a nice controlled low end a neutral midsection that is less overpowered by the upper frequencies
you have a little bit of a bump in the presence and treble but not too much the main focus and
the upper frequencies on the pure tube is in the air frequency so you don't lose out all love that
detail but it is not as aggressive as the solid state microphones but compared to their other tube
offerings like the 840 940 and 1040 I think the upper frequencies of the pure tube come across a
little bit less smooth on the electric guitar I quite liked it especially because of the detail
and the upper frequencies but it doesn't come across over boosted or overbearing on the acoustic
guitar again I thought it worked really well it is full bodied but not muddy and then you have that
articulation in the upper frequencies and the liveliness that I just love on acoustic guitar
for singing vocals which is what I believe this was designed for I think it is fantastic it has
a neutral midsection and then a bright and Airy top end without sounding artificial and for spoken
word it is just clear and easy to understand and I had multiple people leave comments saying this
is the best sounding microphone I have ever heard on your voice and to wrap up what I recommend the
Lewis pure tube yes I would for some people if you're somebody who loves the sound of lewitt's
solid-state microphones but you want something with a bit less of an aggressive upper frequency
range and you don't want to have to worry about the self noise that is sometimes an issue with
two microphones I think that's who's really going to love this thing because it gives you
that lewit sound tames it down a bit makes it a bit more refined and it doesn't introduce any new
issues with the tube or if you're somebody out there who for some reason needs a tube
microphone and you want a bit more articulation in the upper frequencies that is what this is
bringing to the table because when I compare it to other tube mics like the tf-51 u67 it just gives
you a bit more of that articulation and detail and you do also get that super low self noise
alright that's all that I've got for you today I am not going to Ramble On thank you so much for
watching thank thank you so much for listening I will talk to you later bye bye whoa whoa